Firefighters rescue trapped man
Published 8:44 pm Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Firefighters rescued a man from a sports utility vehicle that crashed into a retention pond alongside SR 525 north of Lynnwood late Saturday, Jan. 10.
Firefighters responded at 5:41 p.m. to northbound SR 525 about a 1/4 mile from the Highway 99 exit where the man was trapped in his vehicle about 35 feet from the shore of a 75-foot-by-40-foot rectangular retention pond.
“The water was about six inches from the roof of the vehicle when firefighters arrived,” said Leslie Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1.
As they prepared for the rescue, firefighters used a megaphone to urge the trapped man to stay calm and directed him to keep his head near the window in the pocket of air at the top of the car. Firefighters from the district’s technical rescue team responded with specialized equipment for water rescue.
One of the rescue technicians donned a dry suit and swim flippers, swam out to the vehicle with a rescue line, and then used a tool to break out a side window of the vehicle.
He freed the man from the car, then hauled him back to shore through the 5-foot deep water.
Fire District 1 paramedics transported the 87-year-old man to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. His injuries did not appear to be life threatening.
